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I broke down and did it. I bought the Super 8 Hitting System, and I’m glad I did.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I buy a lot of videos and books about baseball instruction, to learn as much as I can about the game, to make my players better, and to ultimately win games. Over the years in fact, of all the books and videos that I’ve read and seen, there are only two that I review over and over. The videos are pitching videos by Tom House, a former professional pitcher, and the book is Youth Baseball Coaching by John T. Reed. Now; however, I’ve added the Super 8 Hitting System videos to my list.

The videos in the system that I will review over and over are “The Pro Stroke Steps”, “Super 8 Combos” and “The Super 8 Hitting Agenda”.

The Super 8 Pro Stroke Steps video tells you exactly what you need to know about the mechanics of hitting a baseball, from the soles of your shoes to the top of your head, coach Joe Brockhoff explains everything. In fact, as of today, I’ve watched it four times and each time I catch something I missed. The Pro Stroke video is almost 50 minutes long, and PACKED with great insightful information about baseball hitting mechanics.

The next video I will burn into my memory is the Super 8 Combos video. This video has so many drills and tips it’ll blow your mind. Again, as with the Pro Stroke video, each time I watch it, I catch stuff I missed. This video is about 45 minutes long, and I made a list of the drills so that I don’t forget them. Here’s the list:

List of the Super 8 Combos Drills

Rocker step drill

Load, stride, pivot

Straight jacket drill

Power hand drill

Power V correction drill

Mat drills

Mat drill with guide stick

Tee drills

Side fence drill

Back fence drill

Frisbee drill

Plastic bat drill

Pop drill

Pop/stroke drill

Mat drill (hands)

Mat drill (hands / bat)

Hi / lo speed snaps

Full stroke with mat

Toss drills:

In/mid/out

Drive toss

Full toss

Chair drill

Uh, I already forgot what some of these drills were… SEE WHAT I MEAN! I’ve watched this one three times. I’ll eventually get ‘em all down.

Last, and dare I say, but not least? My fav of the bunch – The Super 8 Hitting Agenda. This video is also about 45 minutes long, and shows drills that can be used in the batting cage with a machine, or with live pitching. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, The Hitting Agenda!

The Hitting Agenda video has drills that train you to see the ball better (Judgmental Drills), teach you how to make better contact (Contact Drills) and specialty drills. Here’s the list of drills:

List of The Hitting Agenda Drills

Judgmental Drills

Loose body

Stride take

Drive take

A – B – C

Form and technique

Contact Drills

A – B – Snap

A – B – 50%

A – B – 75%

A – B – 95%

A – B – Flex

Specialty Drills

BP Slo-Motion drill

Drivers (my personal favorite)

Quick hips drill

Timing Drills (stepping up and back in the cage – why didn’t I think of that?)

Split hands drill

Then, there’s a Power Ten Series which I did just a couple of days ago with the team that I coach. The Power Ten series is a competitive hitting drill that the kids loved. Each player gets to hit and they are graded on each swing that they take. A miss, weak hit and a solid hit are each scored accordingly. It’s fun, competitive and very useful.

What could have been better?

Well, this point is moot for me really, but here it goes. The Super 8 Hitting System gives no instruction on bunting. I don’t know about you, but I am not much of a bunt type coach. I like to see my players crush the ball, so I rarely have them bunt. I guess you could say that I’m more of an American League type guy.

My Team’s Results

The team that my son and I coached this year have had their struggles. I had been pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to get these boys to improve their hitting and fielding skills. In fact, we were mercied 8 times in our first 12 games… UGH! If you’re a coach, you can imagine how that feels.

In all my years of coaching I had never, EVER, been mercied more than 2 times in a season. I totally didn’t know what the heck to do. I was full of anxiety, and I would wake up in the middle of the night… Thinking of what to do. Heck, it sucked, because I don’t even have a son on the team. I love the game and I’m lucky enough that my son helps me coach.

So about mid season, like I said when I started this post, I found, and bought The Super 8 Hitting System, and here’s what has happened since. My players are learning to go short to the ball. They are learning to keep their hands inside the ball, and taking a direct path to the ball with the barrel of the bat. All because of the drills in this hitting system.

Bottom line. Soon after starting to teach the Super 8 drills the mercies stopped and we became competitive. My players hit better, make more consistent contact, and we’ve started scoring more, and winning more games. The city tournament is coming up, and we can’t wait. The more I have them do the Super 8 drills, the better they get.

This may sound like a cliche but, I really hope my competitors never see this post.

I hope this helps you (if you are in another league that is). Please let me know if you have any questions. This was a long post, but I can’t say enough about the Super 8 Hitting System.

About Me

My name is coach Ed and I love baseball. The goal of this site is to help you become a better baseball hitter. My son, standing to my right, in the picture above, once asked me, "Dad, how do you hit a home run?" I'm his dad, I had to learn to teach him, now I'm giving you some tips that I hope will make you a better batter.